Even if you haven’t heard of Sharon Jones by now, you have heard her sound. Like her past two albums with backing band The Dap-Kings, 100 Days, 100 Nights, which came out last week, evokes the polished sound of Motown, the grit and funk of Stax, the plaintive soul of Otis, and the gospel of Aretha in one. (For a taste, download “100 Days, 100 Nights” here — it’s the title song for a reason.)

Critics say she isn’t doing anything new; fans love her precisely because she and The Dap-Kings choose to create classic funk and soul instead of the soft-porn cheese that passes for modern-day, overproduced R&B.

But as old school as her tremendous voice sounds, the fact that she broke into the industry in her 40s — when Dap-Kings bassist Gabriel Roth (a k a Bosco Mann) tapped her to be their James Brown — is unheard of. Though the Augusta, Ga. born, Brooklyn-bred singer dreamed of making it big when she was young, she admits that “at that time, if it came to me, I probably would have ended up in a rehab” — like Amy Winehouse, who literally lifted Jones’ retro-soul sound by using The Dap-Kings as her backing band on tour and on half the songs on her new album.

“I tell people I’m not angry, I’m not mad, I’m not jealous. If it wasn’t for Amy, we wouldn’t be in the mainstream” — which Jones is slowly but surely entering. In December she makes a cameo as a singer on the new Denzel Washington/ Forest Whitaker movie, The Great Debaters, about the 1935 all-black debate team that Harvard challenged (”of course they whooped Harvard’s behind”), and a few of her songs will be on the soundtrack.

“I always said one day people are going to accept me for my voice — not for my look, or how fat I am or how old I am. I’m glad I am here right now. You can’t give me enough money to mess this up.”

You can download the album on iTunes, or buy it here. We’ve also got one free CD for the first person who can tell us what other famous soul singer she shares her birthplace with. (Just hit reply with the answer).